Jharkhand to set up bio waste plant in Jhiri

RANCHI: The state government is planning to set up a biomedical waste treatment plant in Jhiri village, some 30 km from Ranchi following Jharkhand High Court's order to streamline the state's biomedical waste management system.

The proposal for the plant was tabled and discussed in a meeting chaired by chief secretary Rajiv Gauba on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by principal health secretary K Vidyasagar, Indian Medical Association Jharkhand (IMA) president, Dr Ajay Singh, and members from the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB).

The plant will have a capacity to treat the amount of bio-medical waste that would emanate from the growing number of private hospitals in Ranchi and its fringes, sources in the meeting said. In all likelihood, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) will be appointed the consultant besides other professional agencies.

The government is also planning to reach out to the BCCL Hospital in Dhanbad and Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur to address the waste management issues in the cities and its nearby districts. "If their waste management facilities are in full capacity, measures have to be undertaken to increase their capacities to accommodate waste from other facilities," another official said.